George h



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. G. H. POOR.

GOVERNOR FOR AUTOMATIU BRAKES.

No. 317,572. Patented May 12, 1885.

IHlHlll I (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. H. POOR.

GOVERNOR FOR AUTOMATIC BRAKES. No. 317,572. Patented May 12, 1885.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE POOR, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERIOAB BRAKECOMPANY,

OF SAME PLACE.

GOVERNOR FOR AUTOMATIC BRAKES.

QPBCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 317,572, dated May 12,1885.

Application filed October 18, 1884. (No model.)

To all 107mm it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE II. Peon, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Centrifugal Governors for AutomaticOar-Brakes; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the same, ref erence being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the governor andpart of the axle to which it is secured. Fig. 2 is a'view at rightangles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end View of the same. Fig. 4 is adetached view of the collar which clamps or is attached to the axle.Fig. 5 is a similar view of the sliding collar or disk. Fig. 6 is anenlarged view of the end of one of the bolts,which carries the springsand the locking-pin, showing the means for changing the power of thespring which operates the centrifugal arms or blocks of the governor.Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a portion of the clamp collar, thesprings, and the centrifugal arm or block. Fig. 8 is a detachedperspective view of the 1bolt-pin; and Fig. 9 is a sectional View of theLike letters refer to like parts wherever they occur.

My invention relates to the construction of that class of centrifugalgovernors which are attached to car-axles for controlling the mechanismemployed for automatically applying car-brakes, such as is shown in thepatents of Lefevre and Dorre,No. 101, 280,1March 29,1870; Card andRandolph, No. 231,535, August 24, 1880; Randolph, No. 241,156, May 10,1881; Randolph, No. 241,510, May 17, 1881; Poor, No. 300,122, and manyothers of like general character.

The main objects of the present invention are to produce a governorwhich can be adjusted to operate at any desired speed; to pro vide meansfor increasing the power of the springs of the centrifugal arms at will,or when the spring has become weakened from any cause, and generally tosimplify the construction of this class of governors. To obtain theseobjects I prefer to employ a flat 5o spring, coiled spirally andconcentrically about a rotatable bolt or shaft, to which one end of thespring is attached, while the opposite end of the spring is secured tothe weighted arm of the governor. I also prefer to cast this bolt hollowand malleableize the same, so as to ch- 5 tain lightness and strength,as well as to reduce the cost of manufacture, and though a ratchet anddog may be used with the rotatable shaft or bolt, I prefer a pin andratchetlugs, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

I will now proceed to describe my invention more fully, so that othersskilled in the art to which it appertains may apply the same.

In the drawings,A indicates the shaft or car-axle to which the governoris attached. The main elements composing the governor are aclamp-collar, B,'secured to the axle or shaft and revolving therewith,weighted cen' trifugal arms 0, which are separated by centrifugal force;a sliding disk or collar, D, actuated by the weighted arms 0, andtensionsprings E, which resist the outward move ment of the weightedarms and close the same against the shaft or axle A when not overcome bycentrifugal force. 7 5

The clamp-collar B is composed of sections 11, preferably semicircular,which are held together around the axle by bolts b, so as to securelyclamp the axle and rotate therewith. At diametrically-opposite points onthe collar B are two pairs of projecting ears, b between which arepivoted weighted centrifugal arms 0. The weighted centrifugal arm 0 ispreferably bifurcated at the end which is pivoted to the collar, as atc, to form a chamber to receive 8 and protect the spring E, and at itsopposite end is provided with laterally-projecting pins or lugs c, whichengage in cam-slots on the sliding disk or collar D. I

D indicates the disk or sliding collar,which 0 is connected directly toand actuated by the weighted centrifugal arms 0. The sliding disk D ispreferably made of two semicircular sections adapted to encircle theaxle, and has on the side next to the clamp-collar B, at half- 5 circledistances from each other, two slotted jawed projections, d, the slots(1 being curved and of such length as to permit the outer ends of theweighted centrifugal arms 0 to recede from the axle such distance as todraw the disk ICO centrifugal or weighted arm 0 is pivoted, and

D toward the collar as far as maybe required; In these slots (1 thelateral pins or lugs c of the weighted arms engage, and the length ofthe slots should not be such as to allow of excessive tension being puton the springs E.

E indicates tension-springs, by means of which the outward throw of theweighted arms is resisted, and by means of which said arms are forcedagainst the shaft when the centrifugal force is diminished or ceases. Itis evident thatif the power of these devices (springs or equivalent) canbe increased or diminished at will, accordingly will the governoroperateat a greater or less speed of the axle or shaft. To accomplish this Iprovide means for increasing or diminishing the power of the spring asfollows: I enlploy a flat spring, and coil the same spirally andconcentrically, securing one end thereof to the shaft or bolt Rand theother to the weighted arm 0. The bolt or shaft attachment may be made bymeans of a lug or projectiomf, 011 the shaft, and a slot in the shaftend of the spring, which is the preferable manner, as it facilitates thereplacing of an old or useless spring, and the attachment of theopposite end may be made by means of a cross-pin, e, which passesthrough an eye on the end of the spring and bears on the bifurcated armsof the weighted arm 0. These forms of construction are herein shown anddescribed, not for purposes of limitation, as

any means of attaching the spring maybe employed, butbecause I havefound them in practice the most desirable.

F indicates the bolt or shaft on which the to which one end of thetension-spring Eis secured. These bolts I cast hollow and malleableize,so as to obtain strength, lightness,and saving in the cost ofmanufacture. Each bolt has at one end a head adaptedto receive a wrench,g, by means of which the bolt can be turned, inv the opposite end ahole, for the reception of the pin which holds the bolt or ,shaft inplace,- and at an intermediate Joint a. in or lug for securin the end of7 b springE.

H (see Fig. 8) indicates the pin for holding the bolt in place. This pinhas a shoulder or projection, 71, for retaining the pin .in position,which shoulder is cut away. at one or m'orefpoints, 7b, to permit theinsertion and withdrawal of the pin. On one of theprojeoting ears b ofclamp-collar B, on which the weighted arm 0 is pivoted, and surroundingthe shaftor bolt-hole, are arranged a series of projections orlugs, If,with one or more .of which lugs the locking-pin II engages accordinglyas the bolt is turned. It will be noted that thispin H, in addition toits function as a key, .acts as a dog or pawl, while the lugs 7L2perform the ofiiee of a, ratchet, and therefore a pawl-and-ratchetmechanism could be sub! stituted therefor, though it would beretrogradein the art.

The mechanism interposed between the governor and the draw-bar on whichactuates the held against the axle by said springs; but when 7 the speedof the train is such that the ,centrif ugal force overcomes the springsE, the weighted arms 0 will separate and the pins 0, moving outwardalong the slots d, will draw the sliding disk or collar D toward thefixed collar B until the outward movement of the arms is arrested by thepins 0 reaching the outer ends of slots (2.

It is evident that the movement of the sliding collar and the tensionput on the springs can be limited by the length ofslots d.

If the springs E become weak from use, or if the tension thereofor theirresistance to the centrifugal force is to be increased, a wrench isplaced on the head of the'bolt F, the pin H is withdrawn, and the bolt Frotated to close the coils of the spring E, after which the pin II isinserted, and a slight reaction of the spring will carry the pin againstone of the lugs h andits shoulder h under the lug, so

that the pin H cannot escape.

The advantages of my invention are, first, the ability to set thegovernor so as to determine the speed required to operate the governorand apply the brakes; second, the ability to increase the force of thetension-spring at will to compensate for loss of power from use, &c.;third, thefacility of repair without removal and by unskilled labor incase of in jury to the tension-springs; and, finally, the greatsimplicity and durablity of the structure, a feature of great importancein this class of mechanism.

Having thus described the nature, opera tion, and advantages of myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In a centrifugal governor, the combination, with the centrifugal arm,of an adjustable tension-spr1ng, substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

2. In a centrifugal governor, the combination,with the centrifugal arm,of a concentric-- ally-coiled tension-spring, and a rotatable bolt orshaft, to which one end of the tension-spring is attached, substantiallyas and for the purposes specified.

3. In a centrifugal governor, the combinationof a centrifugal arm, acoiled tensionspring secured at one end to the centrifugal arm, arotatable bolt or shaft to which the opposite end of thetension-springis secured, and a pawl-and-ratchet mechanism forsecuringthe rotatable bolt, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

securing the pivot-bolt and the series of lugs arranged around thebearing of the pivot-bolt, I 5

substantially as and for the purposes specified. 6. The hollow castmalleableized pivot-bolt for the centrifugal arm of the governor,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in 20 presence of twowitnesses, this 29th day of September, 1884.

GEORGE ll. POOR. \Vitnesses:

E. B. LEIGH, ALBERT BLAIR.

